


Get It Together

by an_odd_ducky



Category: The Hobbit RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-04
Updated: 2013-11-04
Packaged: 2017-12-31 11:23:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1031112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/an_odd_ducky/pseuds/an_odd_ducky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean is waiting for the bus when things start to get flirty with a curly-haired stranger. But when the bus that pulls up is the one with his naked ass plastered on the side, he runs away, too embarrassed to actually introduce himself. With a meddling brother and adventurous dog whose only purpose in life is to make Dean's more difficult, is there any chance that Dean will ever find the boy at the bus stop again - and if he does, will he be able to say hello without embarrassing himself all over again? A fic about missed connections, mistaken identities, and a healthy dose of embarrassing mishaps.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Get It Together

**Author's Note:**

> I have never been to New Zealand and sadly do not have any Kiwi friends, so I apologize if this fic sounds distinctly American. 
> 
> For now, the rating is Teen and Up, but there's still a possibility this may change. 
> 
> It is quite late as I post this, so I will update later with tags and any editing I missed in my sleepy state.
> 
> Please remember that these characters are just that - characters, and though they share names and faces with real people, this is most definitely a work of fiction and should not be taken seriously.

Brett was late. As usual.

Dean huffed out an annoyed breath and leaned up against a light post, scuffing his feet on the sidewalk as cars rolled past. He should have known his brother wouldn’t be on time. Beside him, Batman, his very large and energetic wolfhound mix, was passing the time by pacing restlessly, wrapping his leash around Dean’s legs as he explored the sidewalk. Dean checked his watch again. If Brett didn’t arrive soon, he wouldn’t have time to make it to the bus stop before the last bus out to Stone Street left.

The only warning Dean had before his legs were jerked from under him was one booming bark that sent a squirrel chittering angrily up a nearby tree as Batman spotted a familiar face and bounded toward him. Dean hit the ground hard, barely keeping his head from cracking against the concrete as he kicked his feet to untangle the leash still wrapped around them. Once he was free, Batman took off at a run toward Brett, taking a flying leap and hitting him square in the chest with his front paws as he aimed wild licks at Brett’s face. Brett stumbled backward with an “Oof!” before steadying himself again. 

“Jesus, Dean!” he swore. “When are you going to teach this dog some manners?”

Dean propped himself up on his elbows and glared at his brother. “Maybe I’d be able to if you would stop rewarding his bad behavior!” Dean answered threateningly. Brett looked up guiltily from where he had been cooing at the dog still standing against his chest, chomping happily on a dog biscuit Brett had produced from the pocket of his jacket. 

“Aww, but I’m his uncle! I’m allowed to spoil him!” Brett countered, finally pushing Batman away.

“You are not his uncle, Brett. He’s a dog. As if I would trust you around actual children,” Dean answered. Why couldn’t Brett just make his life easy, for once? “Where have you been, anyway? You realize I’m probably going to miss the bus now? And it’s the last one out today. Just because I have a steady gig now doesn’t mean I want to pay for cab fare every time they move the filming over to Stone Street.”

“Stop your whining; you’ve still got fifteen minutes to make it to the bus stop. It always runs late, anyway. Come on; we’ll walk with you, won’t we, Batman? We can cut through the park and make it there in plenty of time.” Brett ducked down to snatch up Batman’s leash where it was dragging on the ground and trotted through the gate to the park.

“No! Brett!” Dean tried to warn, but it was too late. As soon as Batman stepped foot inside the park, he leapt forward in excitement, dragging Brett behind him. Dean could do nothing but sigh and follow them.

“You never answered my question,” Dean pointed out when he caught up to his brother. Batman’s wagging tail smacked against his leg as the dog pawed happily at a mushroom next to the path. “Where were you? You were supposed to meet me at seven.”

“I had a date,” Brett answered casually.

“A date? With Alex?” 

“No, someone new.”

“That’s like the sixth one I’ve heard about in two months,” Dean said, glancing sidelong at his brother as Brett pulled Dean’s dog away from the mushroom patch. “You never used to date around this much. What changed?”

“Guess I just got tired of being stuck in a rut,” Brett answered pointedly.

Dean bristled. “I'm not stuck in a rut! Or I wouldn't be, if you hadn't ruined my last relationship.” This was ridiculous. How many times would they have this conversation before Brett stopped trying to butt into his life?

“I’ve already apologized for that,” Brett grumbled. “Several times.”

Dean sighed. It was true, Brett had apologized over and over again. Dean had no doubt that he was sorry. But that didn’t negate the fact that he had been the one to out Dean as bisexual at his engagement party. Brett couldn’t have known that his fiancee’s parents were so homophobic that they would make her call off her engagement to Dean, but Dean couldn’t help but feel some lingering bitterness that Brett had opened his mouth to begin with, innocent intentions or not.

“I know,” Dean said softly. “I’m sorry; I shouldn’t be that way. It’s just...it’s still weird sometimes, ya know? We were together for four years. I got Batman for her, for Christ's sake! And then she was gone, just like that."

"You could give her a call, offer to take her out to dinner? It's been almost a year; maybe her parents have relaxed?"

Dean shook his head, gaze focused on the ground. "It's not that easy. The way she just gave up....she didn't even try to fight them, ya know? How do you agree to marry someone and then just give it up that easily? Nah. I miss her. But I think it was for the best."

"Then we can find someone else for you, mate," Brett said, slapping Dean on the back. "Do you want Alex's number? I can set you up."

Dean rolled his eyes. "I'm fine as I am, thanks. I've got Batman. I've got work, and my photography. I'm great. I'm happy."

Brett tried to throw him a disbelieving look over his shoulder as he was yanked across the lawn by the dog. "How can someone who plays such a horny god be so disinterested in his own love life?" He called back.

“It’s not just being single again, though, is it?” Brett asked once he had finally bribed Batman back to the path with a biscuit, and Dean was surprised to see a real hint of concern cross his brother’s face. “You’ve been out of sorts ever since that Hobbit audition.”

Dean groaned and turned away from them both, breaking a leaf off a nearby bush and toying with it absentmindedly. 

“So, they gave the part to someone else!” Brett pushed. “That’s what happens in this business.”

Dean sighed. “It’s not that. I love my part in the Almighty Johnsons, but I thought it would open more doors than it has, ya know? And then they started casting for the Hobbit, and I thought I could actually get it. Have you seen the guy they hired?” Dean rolled his eyes. “He looks like a….You know what? No. I’m not doing this again. I’m over it. I’m happy. And there’s talk of airing the show internationally soon. Things are good.”

He didn’t sound any more convinced than Brett felt.

“You just need a bit of change, big brother,” Brett said. “I could write you a part in my new short? It’s a 1960’s style science-fiction thriller about mosquito men from--”

Dean chuckled and shook his head. “Thanks, man, but I don’t think I’d fit the part very well.”

“But I have told you what part I would cast you in!”

Dean changed the subject. "I've gotta go if I'm going to catch the bus in time.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” Brett said, suddenly looking young as he scuffed his shoe on the sidewalk. “You’ll be ok, ya know? I know you’re not really where you want to be, but...I’m here for you.”

Dean’s mouth twitched into a smile, touched by his brother’s concern. “I know,” he said simply, clapping a hand on Brett’s arm affectionately. “You'll be alright with Batman tonight?"

"Sure we will. This is like the fifth time you've had me watch him for a night shoot, Deano. And does anything ever go wrong?"

"Everything always goes wrong," Dean groused, reaching down and swatting Batman away from half a burger someone had dropped, raising an eyebrow at Brett as he did. 

"Well, not this time. We're just gonna have a boys' night, aren't we, buddy?" He said, scratching behind Batman's ears. "Just me, you, and the TV."

"And you won't let him out on the balcony instead of taking him for a walk?"

"That was one time!" Brett defended. "How was I supposed to know he could get over the railing?"

"It was three times. Three. Get off your lazy bum and walk the dog if you want to keep seeing him!" Dean threatened, and Brett glared at him sullenly. "I should be by around midmorning to pick him up again," he said, breaking into a jog as he left them. "And no more biscuits! You're making him fat!" 

Dean couldn't hear Brett's mumbled, "Yeah, yeah," over Batman's booming barks when he realized that Dean was leaving without him. The noise followed Dean all the way out the other side of the park. 

Which was probably why, when Dean rounded the corner and slowed as he neared the bus stop, he was immediately met by a pair of big brown eyes blinking in his direction. 

Dean stumbled a few steps, managing to stop himself from landing on the concrete for the second time in half an hour, but there was nothing he could do about the way his cheeks warmed in embarrassment. What was with him today? He straightened his shirt, trying to look natural as he stole a sidelong glance at Brown Eyes.

The man had dark, curly hair and a delicate face that might have looked feminine on anyone else, but behind a healthy growth of stubble made him look more impish than dainty. Dean wasn’t sure how standing could be graceful, but there was really no other word for the way his tall body curved as he waited, a duffle bag thrown over one shoulder. He had long eyelashes under expressive brows, and when he smiled, Dean felt himself smiling back without trying.

That is, until he realized he had been staring at the man’s mouth for much longer than you should stare at any man you meet in passing at the bus stop. Dean felt his face flame red again and he forced himself to look forward, ashamed of his gawking, but still hyper-aware of Brown Eyes in his peripheral vision. He felt the man take a step closer.

He checking me out, Dean thought, his eyes flicking over to the stranger again. He’s definitely checking me out. I should say something. Something suave. Not too flirty, but not too friendly. Play it cool, Dean.

“The bus is late.” Dean’s voice cracked halfway through, and he flinched in horror as memories of his awkward teenage self came flooding back to him. “The bus is late?” he mouthed silently to no one, his back turned to the other man. Behind him, Brown Eyes chuckled - a rich and playful laugh that, for some reason, didn’t quite sound like it fit in with the street noise of New Zealand. Dean chanced a glance back at him, just in time to see the stranger’s eyes flick up from where they had been checking out Dean’s ass. He shot Dean another flirty smile, and once the shock had passed, Dean returned it intentionally, ignoring the hot blush creeping down his neck. 

Dean closed the distance between them, determined to pull this off. No one had piqued his interest like this in ages, and if he was reading the signs right, this guy was interested right back. It was now or never. Dean opened his mouth to speak, but just as he began to introduce himself, his voice was drowned out by the hiss of the bus pulling up to the curb. 

Dean glanced over at the bus and back to Brown Eyes. And did a double take.

Of all the buses in the city, it had to be that one that pulled up at that moment. His own face smirked back at him, dripping in Ander’s attitude as he lay naked next to an advertisement for the Almighty Johnsons. Having his naked butt on display as the bus made its rounds was bad enough, but Dean was fairly certain he must have pissed off someone in the marketing department, because there could be no other reason for the stars exploding from his ass in the picture. Dean inwardly cringed every time he saw the bus. 

Horrified, he turned back to Brown Eyes to find him staring open-mouthed at the advertisement, and then back to Dean. For once in his life, Dean prayed that he was too red-faced to be recognizable, but the gleeful grin that was slowly spreading across the stranger’s face told him it wasn’t an effective disguise. The bus was waiting, and Dean still hadn’t boarded. Absolutely mortified and unsure of what to do, he picked the easiest choice: he turned tail and fled, walking quickly back around the corner and into the park without a backward glance, picking up his pace until he broke into a full run. When he had nearly made it out the other end of the park, he spotted Brett and Batman up ahead, talking to a woman with long red hair. Still too wrapped up in what had just happened to care about how he must look, he jogged up to them.

“Vilhelm here is the only one of his kind in New Zealand,” Dean heard as he drew near. “He’s a very rare breed. Use for hunting lions. I had him imported from a breeder all the way in Germany.”

“Are there a lot of lions in Germany?” the woman asked, giggling when Batman leaned against her leg as she petted him, clearly enjoying the attention.

Dean broke into their conversation, breathing heavily as he wiped sweat off his brow. “Only in zoos,” he said to the girl, then turned to Brett.

“Dean!” Brett said, eyeing Dean’s wild hair and flushed skin. “Did you miss the bus?”

“No, there was a guy, and I was naked--wait, are you using my dog to pick up girls?” Dean realized.

“Why were you naked?” Brett asked, pulling a face.

“I thought you said Wilhelm was your dog?” the woman jumped in, looking back and forth between the two,

“Uh, we share him,” Brett said quickly. 

“His name is Batman,” Dean said at the same time.

“Wilhelm Batman. Family name.” Brett elbowed Dean in his side as he smiled. 

There was a moment of silence. “I think I’m just going to go….” The redhead said, giving Batman one last scratch behind his ear. “He’s a really cute dog….” She smiled apologetically at them and made her hasty escape.

“You could come over and see his trophies!” Brett called after her before slumping and turning back to Dean. “She was cute!”

“And you were lying,” Dean answered. “Poorly, I might add.”

Brett shot him an annoyed look. “Why aren’t you on the bus? You’re gonna be late.”

Dean rubbed the back of his neck. Now that his immediate panic had faded, he felt like an idiot. Maybe Brett is right. Maybe I am stuck in a rut.

“Nevermind. It’s not important,” Dean mumbled. “I should go; I’ve gotta flag down a cab.”

“You said there was a guy,” Brett said, falling into step beside him, and Dean knew that look. Brett might like to play dumb when it saved him trouble, but he wasn’t stupid by any means. “You liked him, didn’t you?” Dean hated it when Brett got that smug look on his face. “But why are you here, then? Did you scare him off? Was it your shirt? I keep telling you it looks awf--”

“No, it wasn’t my shirt!” Dean said, scowling at him. “In fact, it was my complete lack of one.”

“That’s no way to attract a mate, Dean. You should at least wait until you get them home,” Brett answered with a straight face, nudging Batman away from a garbage bin he was eyeing hungrily.

“Not me, you idiot, I meant the bus!” 

“I’m beginning to understand why you’ve been single for so long now.”

Dean sighed through gritted teeth. “It was the bus. The one I’m on, for the Almighty Johnsons ad, ya know?”

Brett barked out a laugh. “With the stars? Everyone in the city’s seen that picture, Dean. It’s hardly a shocker. I saw a couple of college kids posing with their hands on your ass the other day. You have to go back!”

“What?” Dean nearly tripped over Batman as he stopped abruptly. 

“He could still be there! You have to catch him!”

“He laughed at me!”

“Well, don’t worry, with your sense of humor, it’ll probably be the only time he ever does.” Brett turned to face him. “Dean, you haven’t shown interest in anyone for months. And you’re just going to let him go, just like that, because he laughed at a photoshopped picture of your butt?”

Dean bit his lip. On the one hand, he hated it when Brett was right, and he had no idea what he would say to Brown Eyes if he did catch him. But on the other hand, he had really felt a connection between them, even in just their flirtatious looks, and the thrill of it still lingered in his fingertips. 

“What are you waiting for? Go!” Brett said, pointing toward the park exit. 

“I’ll come ‘round in the morning!” Dean said in a rush, and hurried away.

Brett looked down at Batman, who had finally gotten bored of the park and sat down in the grass to lick himself awkwardly. “The least you could do is try to look cute,” Brett grumbled, flashing an unconcerned smile at a passing woman, who took one look at the dog and pulled a face. “Come on, you useless mutt. If help me find that redhead again, I’ll let you explore my balcony. Deal?” Batman just groaned as he flopped sideways, jerking his leash and pulling Brett down beside him with a quiet ‘oof!’

Dean rounded the corner, scrambling to make it in time, but his footsteps slowed as he reached the bus stop. The bus was gone, and Brown Eyes had gone with it. Running his hands through his hair in frustration, he kicked the lamppost, ignoring the wary glances of the pedestrians around him. 

“Dammit!”  
Bitterly he hailed a cab and tried to focus on the scene they were scheduled to film that night, but as they passed the bus stop on Stone Street and drew near the location for the night shoot, Dean realized that it would take more than a cab ride to forget about those big brown eyes and a laugh that made him smile even in memory.

**Author's Note:**

> This is actually only the first half of Chapter One, believe it or not. The second half was not ready for posting, so I have split it into two parts. Look for the second part later this week!
> 
> Be sure to visit me on tumblr at an-odd-ducky.tumblr.com.


End file.
